Mollet 50th Anniversary

October 1, 2018

50th Anniversary: A Family Legacy of Delivering Printing Services

As soon as you walk into the Mollet headquarters, it’s obvious you’re working with a family owned and operated business. Their heritage, strong values and the natural chemistry among employees can be both seen and felt. It’s one of the reasons the company has been able to thrive since its inception in 1968 and recently celebrated it’s 50th anniversary.

Founded in downtown Portland by Robert and Karen Mollet, the print shop is now run by their son David and his wife Ali along with a number of second-generation family employees. Working closely together, they’ve spent over 50 years delivering printing solutions to businesses both big and small. They are the print shop behind some of the most creative printed materials, packaging and displays for companies including Nike, Adidas and Platt Electric. But they also have a long tradition of giving back to the local community and often lend a helping hand to nonprofits and startups.

A tradition of innovation

While family and tradition are an important part of Mollet’s success, David knew the shop needed to be at the forefront of printing technology to become the thriving business it is today.

“Staying ahead of changing trends isn’t easy. You need to make a good bet, choose the right technology and invest wisely.” David is humble and has been very smart about his investments. Walking through Mollet’s shop today, you’ll find some of the sleekest, fastest and most advanced printers, cutters and binders on the market—some of them the size of large rooms.

In the early days, Mollet was a trade printing company that operated using the traditional offset printing equipment of the time. They used the original offset printing process, which involved processing film and then using it to burn an image on metal plates—all by using harmful chemicals. The process was slow and ineffective compared to modern technology, like the offset presses of today.

In 2004, David replaced Mollet’s three aging offset printing presses with an HP Indigo 5000 High-Quality Digital Press and 6-color CD74 Heidelberg Offset Press. The state-of-the-art machines allowed Mollet to offer direct-to-plate printing services in-house—which to this day is fast, efficient and delivers the highest quality. That transition, almost 15 years ago, fundamentally changed the way Mollet conducted business and the types of projects it could tackle in-house.

New offerings and opportunities

David has always been committed to expanding his capabilities, and just five years after installing the HP Indigo printer and transforming Mollet, he expanded the company’s services and started offering large format printing. “I can’t be everything to all people, but I want to offer as much as I can in one facility,” said David Mollet.

The ability to print on large format materials brought Mollet a step closer to becoming the one-stop-print shop that it is today. With the convenience of offering full printing capabilities under one roof, Mollet was able to take on new clients and projects. Before they knew it, Mollet was regularly printing large-scale banners, wraps and displays—and large format printing quickly became 50 percent of their business and profits. According to David Mollet, “it was mind-blowing how quickly large-scale printing overhauled the way we operated.”

Coming up with creative solutions

Technology has transformed Mollet over the years, but their creativity has been their most important asset. The team at Mollet have honed their craft and have the ability to use their in-house technology to solve creative problems. Plus, they often work with marketing agencies and creative departments, who depend on them to find a way to bring their creative to life on time and on budget.

At Mollet, they also use their creativity to come up with unique solutions for printed materials, packaging and displays. David Mollet said, “sometimes clients come to you with an idea that’s not possible, but we always find a way—sometimes you just need to change the approach.”

Their out-of-box thinking has helped them solve problems for hundreds of clients. For example, one client wanted a printed logo on a packaging box, but the cost was outside of their budget. To help them achieve their vision without breaking the bank, Mollet came up with the solution to use branded bands around the box—which was a creative and affordable compromise.

The next 50 years at Mollet

For the past five decades, the Mollet family has grown with the city of Portland. They went from a small trade shop to a state-of-the-art print shop that delivers solutions to small local businesses and some of the largest companies in the world. But they’re not done growing yet—David Mollet says he’s always looking to bring new technology in-house to help evolve his business and better meet the needs of his customers.

He has started working more with printing on fabrics, which can be backlit by LEDs to create bright, illuminated signage. He says they’re not only eye-catching—but they’re affordable, easy to ship and install and just might be an important new step for the printing industry.

Start a relationship with Mollet

With close family ties, a strong work ethic and the latest printing technology—Mollet has the expertise to help small, mid-sized and large companies achieve their printing goals. Interested in learning more about how Mollet can deliver creative, timely and high-quality printing solutions for your business?

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